You Guys Think the Mario Movie's Gonna Be Any Good?

[aqua03]

I mean, I get that. I guess the fact that it was just good given both the track record of both Video Game movies (Starting with the original Mario movie from the 1990's coincidentally) and post Despicable Me Illumination is honestly kind of a miracle and should be celebrated.

But then again,I'm a pretty easygoing guy all things considered.

Though I do wish there was just a bit more time to breath and develop things because the movie runs on such a quick pace that sometimes it kinda felt that things would just "happen" without much exposition beyond the bare minimum.

All in all, a solid 7/10 movie in my book. The cinematic equivalent a nice bowl of fettucini alfredo I feel.

[NickRowler]

I just saw the film and well... I can see why critics don't like this film.

I don't think this film has much to offer to anyone who isn't a huge Mario fan. I feel like things happen in the film and they are never explained because the film makers expect everyone to already know the lore of the games. I didn't feel like there was any build up or atmosphere or "Chekhov's gun", things happen because [insert Mario reference]. And I guess if you like seeing Mario references, then this is the movie for you.

I did like pieces of this film. Bowser was funny, I like what they did with Peach, and the animation was nice. Tho I felt like the movie had pacing issues and I wasn't a fan of the dialogue.

I will give it a 5/10. If you like Mario, it's worth checking out, kids might like it.

[powerplantanimations]

Honestly... I'm just going to treat this like one big fan animation. I also found out that Illumination did some last minute changes to the sound track. The "Take On Me" bit was supposed to have this song in:

It's like... yeah. I feel bad for the journalists. Whenever I write, I always have this belief where no matter what, there will always be someone out there who doesn't know the property... I'm happy to have this belief confirmed.

All I can say is I hope they learn from their mistakes... although... I will put this out there. I remember other writers in Cartoon Network having beef with the Teen Titans Go! crew because they refuse to change (the directors were the main developers of the show). I remember this one tweet where this artist was telling them off (I need to find it, it involved the Thundercats Rawr show). They have a big "F you" mentality towards critics so like.... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMmmmmm. Hopefully they can get better... directors for the spin-offs.

I'm also hoping the Zelda film will be it's own little story in the Zelda canon (like that one horrible Assassin's Creed film). Zelda is all about reintroducing concepts to the audience... also it seems like Eji Aonuma cares more about story than Miyamoto (he's the producer for those games).

[NickRowler]

I found most of the music to be extremely distracting. The only song I liked was the original one from Jack Black. The pop songs just reminded of other movies like Shrek 2 (I need a Hero) or the Kill Bill theme (which I think Minions 2 also used). And the Easter Egg music felt out of place or forced. I sort of wish more of the music was original tracks.

[toonben]

I'm watching the movie in IMAX. This could be one of the best modern classics in recent cinema alongside Belle, Wolfwalkers, RRR, Dune, and The Northman or one of the worst pieces of crap films in recent memory. Could be the former or barely reaching the former as I'll love it no matter what. This is from the guy who's not smart enough to understand the highly overrated Everything, Everywhere All At Once but I understood Tenet. It'll probably be better than Top Gun Maverick.

[powerplantanimations]

Thiiiiiis has to be something I need to judge since I'm always a huge fan of how music is integrated into things. From the scenes I've seen, it seems like it's the most appopriate way of using easter eggs (probably one of the best???). Especially watching that Donkey Kong scene with the music edited in. I dunno, I'm a huge fan of sampling and how they add it to the context of the film, so I guess that's the only thing I'm looking forward to should I see this movie. Also music is something you can directly translate from video game to movie like nothing.

@toonben Don't worry, there's nothing smart about Everything, Everywhere All At Once. That movie is bleh.

[ar-ninetysix]

Been reading this thread and am about to go see it in two hours. Idk what y'all were expecting the movie to be especially from the guys who gave us Minions, Secret Life of Pets, and Sing.. lotta cynicism in here and I'm just like, I just wanna have dumb fun. Like the kind I get while playing Mario games. I'm expecting loud stuff to be used as obnoxious funny gags for children, farts included.

Chris Pratt aside, I think the cast actually seems decent from the trailers. Luigi being the one to save is interesting, and the Mario Kart focus is weird.. but logically it is faster than platforming if they're on a time crunch, I guess. I'm not crazy about the trailer music, I hope it's not like that throughout the whole film, recognizing themes in medleys is gonna get real distracting real fast. The animation looks gorgeous and the 80's throwback promo was fun.

Real talk, I'm not expecting this to be a masterpiece that breaks the video game adaptation curse, like I said- I just want dumb fun from what looks like a 7/10 film. If it delivers on that, I'd be more than happy to watch another film adaptation of another Nintendo game

[aqua03]

I'm expecting loud stuff to be used as obnoxious funny gags for children, farts included.

No fart jokes thankfully. So good on you Illumination.

(Also Hotel Transylvania was Sony)

[ar-ninetysix]

Oops, just gonna do a lil magic

I often mix up Hotel Transylvania and Secret Life of Pets' studios

[powerplantanimations]

Alright so... I watched it annnnnnnnnnnnnd....

I loved iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit?

I wanna get the negatives out first. This movie feels like it should've been a sequel. I preferred the Brookyln stuff more. Unlike the Sonic movie, Mario has tons of material that can be pulled to build upon that half. I would've actually preferred if Donkey Kong was a villain? At least... at first. He def has that jerk energy. Mario cages him up and uses him as a tourist attraction? I know a studio wouldn't want to do that (Mario HAS to be a good guy), but like... that WAS a thing Mario did. And it would've been fascinating to see him trying to please both Pauline and his family.

Could end on a cliffhanger where Mario and Luigi get sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom. When I saw Mario travel with Peach I thought it would be interesting if she's like "We're going to Donkey Kong Country!" and Mario's like "Oh no....". I wouldn't want Luigi to be kidnapped... like at all. This has been a common criticism and I agree: don't have anyone be kidnapped.

The voice acting is eh. Bowser killed it. Seth Rogan was Seth Rogan but he did a good job. I preferred Pratt's Brooklyn accent? Thought it was cute Martinet was the Dad.

Now for the positives. This movie felt like a 90's action film. That isn't a negative. I've been watching a lot of kung-fu movies lately where the appeal has just been fighting with light plot. This movie chose to be a spectacle and I respect that. It knew what it wanted it to be and it was very confident. It didn't feel like the writers didn't know how to flesh it out. It felt like the writers wanted to make a thrill ride first. In a weird way it reminded me of a less-refined Master of the Flying Guillotine? That movie is a sequel that relied on spectacle, but did it in a way where you can watch it without the first film DESPITE it being a continuation. Once it got to the Kong Kingdom I was like "Yeah, I'm just going to watch it with that lense". The easter eggs didn't bother me that much once I put on that mindset. The only thing that bugged me was the name calling. Cranky did NOT need to call Diddy's name and the Blue Shell guy did not need to say "Blue Shell".

I don't BLAME the journalists for not getting the world but a lot of the stuff was self-explanatory. I will say that... you know... there is truth to the whole "kid films don't have to be all that". As LONG as it doesn't devolve into Minion humor which actually does damage. Felt like baby's first action movie and I'm thankful for that.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I just came back from watching the movie and I liked it! The only things I didn't like were Peach's characterization and that there wasn't enough Yoshi. I don't have much to say about it outside of that because even though I was excited, my expectations were low. I knew they weren't going to do anything as interesting as the paper mario games or the superstar saga series.

Peach's character really bothered me as someone who's been a fan since childhood. I mean she was cool and her actions serviced the story, but she wasn't as graceful or elegant as I would've wanted. I think she was just too down to earth. Luigi and Bowser were great and I loved how they characterized Mario. My brother, who is a bigger fan than me, had issues with how they gave him the trait of self doubt, but I see it as a reasonable addition to his character to give him an arc. Fair bit of jokes, liked the references but I wished there were more but I get they can only do so much especially if they want a sequel.

I gave it a 7/10

[powerplantanimations]

I give it a 8/10.

Also as for Peach, I feel like they adapted the Nintendo Power comic where Peach was a badass.

I thought that was a cool deepcut, but I can agree since she DOES feel a little more like Zelda (will be a little difficult to have the two stand apart). I do love the frail Peach that HAPPENS to know how to fight (like in Brawl). The Zelda/Sheik buddy cop dynamic in Subspace Emissary was so fun.

As for Luigi. Man that scene where he was in that forest was great. If they're going to keep this roller coaster feeling up, I can't wait for Luigi's Mansion because they nailed the atmosphere down. There was a video that discusses how Luigi's Mansion 3 has a theme park ideology too. Would be perfect.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I thought that was a cool deepcut, but I can agree since she DOES feel a little more like Zelda

If that's the reference then that is a cool deep cut. But that's generally not her characterization from most Mario media which Is why I think it threw me off. I also think they could have put in more jokes if she was a tad more dainty. Like which of the peaceful toads in the mushroom kingdom taught her how to fight? And why didn't she use a frying pan?

As for Luigi. Man that scene where he was in that forest was great

That scene got me, I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. My fear is that that's the closest thing to a Luigi's mansion movie were ever going to get.

[powerplantanimations]

Yeah you're right. Now that you mention it, it wouldn't exactly make sense that she's tough as she is considering the Toads are pretty harmless creatures. I can write it off as genetics though since Peach's parents could be different. The reason why this portrayal worked in the comics was because Toads weren't defenseless. They were equally tough. Like there's a scene where Peach has a group of cop Toads wearing sunglasses.

They're we're going to get a Luigi's Mansion movie. No doubt about it. Like... come on. Illumination's next film is about ducks MIGRATING. I think they're going to be like "SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH Hey Nintendo, what else you got".

Also... We're already getting a Donkey Kong movie:

Donkey Kong Movie Starring Seth Rogen Reportedly in Development - IGN

[IndigoShirtProd]

we're going to get a Luigi's Mansion movie. No doubt about it.

Yes, let's speak it into existence. I need a horror comedy featuring Luigi.

[TroyVSTheWorld]

Yo the Mario movie was just as dope as I expected it to be